In the Ming Dynasty, in addition to the Ming Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang and the Ming Chengzu Zhu Di, the emperors were very cautious about the awarding of titles, and only Ming Yingzong indiscriminately sealed some "gate-grabbing" heroes after the restoration. During the Zhengde period, Wang Shouren quelled the rebellion of Zhu Chenhao, the king of Ningning, and his merits were great, and he was only given the title of Xinjian Bo during the Jiajing period. However, in the last years of the Ming Dynasty, there was a very absurd scene, a four-year-old child was actually named a count for his military achievements! What's going on here?
1. The Battle of Ningjin
It all started with a war in 1627! It is said that on the ninth day of the fifth lunar month of this year, Emperor Taiji of the Later Jin Dynasty personally led tens of thousands of elite soldiers of the Eight Banners to march in a vain attempt to seize the Ming Dynasty's important towns of Ningyuan and Jinzhou in Liaodong, provoking the prelude to the Battle of Ningjin. On May 13, the Later Jin army besieged Jinzhou and attacked the city of Ningyuan on May 28. Under the command of Yuan Chonghuan, the governor of Liaodong Province, the Ming army launched a fierce battle with the Later Jin army with the help of fortified cities and cannons.
According to the Ming Dynasty's post-incident report, "artillery fire arrows and stones, handed over like rain, from chen to shu, killed the corpses, and filled the road." Later Jin also admitted that the battle was lost, "the Ming defenders came to the aid of the city on three sides, the artillery was fired in unison, and our army attacked but could not be defeated", and "the soldiers suffered a lot of damage". Twenty-four days after the battle, the Houjin army suffered heavy losses, and Emperor Taiji was forced to lead his army to retreat, swallowing the bitter fruit of defeat. The Ming Dynasty achieved the great victory of Ning yuan, and the news reached Beijing, and the government and the public rejoiced.
Second, the eunuchs take credit
It is reasonable to say that the greatest contributors to the Battle of Ningjin were Yuan Chonghuan and Zu Dashou, Zhu Mei and other frontline soldiers. However, no one thought that the fruits of victory had been usurped by a eunuch, and that person was Wei Zhongxian! At that time, the Ming Dynasty was during the period of Wei Zhongxian's dictatorship, and when the war report reached Beijing, almost all the Manchu Dynasty Wenwu and Wu all flattered Wei Zhongxian, describing the Battle of Ningjin as the credit of Wei Zhongxian. Li Chengzuo, the Marquis of Fengcheng, actually shamelessly said that Wei Zhongxian's merits could be summed up with xu da and others, the founding hero of the country!
Emperor Mingxi's Zhu Youshi agreed with Li Chengzuo's statement very much, and said: "Ning Jin's victory and victory are all secretly painted by the factory ministers. This means that the reason why the Battle of Ningjin was won was the result of Wei Zhongxian's secret planning. Emperor Mingxi also ordered the military department to discuss the reward for Wei Zhongxian and his family. In this way, the fruits of the victory achieved by the soldiers of the Ningjin front who fought in bloody battles were actually stolen by Wei Zhongxian, who was far away in Beijing!
3. Knighthood of children
The officials and soldiers soon made arrangements for the reward of the Battle of Ningjin, "Jinzhou Jia'en Wei Zhongxian Sun Wei Pengyi Yijia Young Division, Sealing An Pingbo Hereditary Lineage." This means that they believed that Wei Zhongxian's "grandson", Wei Pengyi (actually his nephew), should be made a young master and a hereditary anpingbo. Emperor Mingxi immediately gave instructions: "See ren Jinyiwei commanding the hereditary Wei Pengyi to be counted as the count of Consort Sun Shangcheng, and the rank is increased, and it is advisable to be a young master of Jin", and asked the relevant departments to issue iron coupons.
At that time, Wei Pengyi was only four years old (imaginary age), still swaddling, and still a child! This Wei Pengyi, who had a golden spoon in his hand, was named hereditary Jinyiwei Commander at the age of three, and had just been promoted to hereditary Jinyiwei Commander a month before he was made Count. If it were not for the early death of Emperor Mingxi and the fall of Wei Zhongxian, Wei Pengyi would most likely have created a historical record of Ming Dynasty courtiers! After Wei Zhongxian's downfall, his nephews were all executed, and Wei Pengyi was still a child, and his life and death were unknown.
References: 1. "Ming Shilu"; 2. "Ming History Chronicle"